New school, old challenge

Monday

Nov 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2007 at 12:42 AM

By Gareth McGrath, Staff Writer

When Courtney Hackney was first appointed to the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission in the late 1980s, North Carolina still had some sparsely developed barrier islands.The marine biology department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where Hackney has taught for nearly three decades, also was little more than a footnote on the national stage.Let's just say things have changed a bit.Today the school's marine biology department not only has a shiny new facility on Myrtle Grove Sound but a growing academic and scientific reputation.And overdeveloped, along with overpriced, could be a word to describe the state's beach communities.As Hackney prepares to leave UNCW for a new job at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, a sort of homecoming for the Key West native, he is looking forward to the challenges in front of him. That might be because they seem vaguely familiar.As the new director of coastal biology at North Florida, Hackney will be in charge of growing the department.Kind of like the situation he found himself in the 1980s when UNCW was in the midst of building its small marine biology department into the world-class program that it is today."This program was largely pulled up by the boot straps by the faculty, and it was fun to be a part of that," Hackney said as he sat in his cluttered second-floor office in Dobo Hall. "The strength of this program was that we built it around the students, and I'm going to try and do that same thing down there."The challenges facing the North Carolina coast, and coastal regulators, also haven't changed much over the decades."But the magnitude has changed," Hackney said.For 18 of the past 20 years, Hackney has served on the CRC - the past two as chairman.And while Hackney admits the issues before the commission haven't really changed over the years, the coast has.He said development, and the money along the coast, now magnifies every decision made by the 15-member board."When I started on the commission, we still had some beach towns that had room to grow. But now almost all of our barrier islands are in public ownership or developed," Hackney said. "There's very little left in between."That means the focus of the commission has changed, largely from reviewing or setting rules for new projects to trying to regulate redevelopment - and potentially fix some of the mistakes made the first time around.Hot-button issues the commission has discussed in recent months include removing most of the sandbags along the state's beaches, new rules for development around troublesome inlets and setback requirements for oceanfront development.The seemingly insatiable appetite for coastal property also has seen development pop up along inland waters, areas that were largely thought to be free of building pressures until a few years ago.Still, Hackney said the commission has the tools, the makeup and the system of checks and balances built into the legislation that governs development in the state's 20 coastal counties to adapt and succeed in the changing environment.But it is the influx of money onto the coast, and the influence that it can buy, that has Hackney most worried."I see that as the greatest danger to the coast," he said.Hackney said not only can well-financed developers, property owners and towns sometimes overwhelm cash- and time-strapped regulators, but they also can curry favor in Raleigh that can have broad-reaching consequences.A case in point is the recent push by Figure Eight Island to build a terminal groin to help with its persistent erosion problem on the north end of the wealthy private barrier island, a clear challenge to the state's long-standing prohibition on hardened structures along the coast."And once one gets it, everyone will want it," Hackney said, ticking off areas up and down the coast where erosion is threatening valuable oceanfront properties. "I think that's pretty obvious to everyone."But as long as officials keep the coast's overall needs ahead of individual requests, Hackney said he's confident things should work out."They need to keep that big-picture perspective," he said.Martin Posey, chairman of the UNCW marine biology department, has worked with Hackney since 1989.He said the same qualities that made Hackney a good teacher and researcher also made him a good CRC member."He has that vision, that ability to understand the other side and what any decision would mean for them," Posey said. "That's a skill that's lacking in many, and Courtney had that."And while Posey is sad to see Hackney leave, he said he couldn't begrudge Hackney for taking the position at North Florida."It's a unique opportunity, and we wish him the best," Posey said.Maybe it won't be as much a change for Hackney after all since North Florida's mascot is the osprey, also known as a seahawk.Gareth McGrath: 343-2384gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com

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